(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a desired region specifying system in an image editing apparatus for editing image information such as picture information or character information displayed on a CRT, and more particularly relates to a system using painting software, a system using drawing software, or a window system for specifying desired region from among overlapped regions on the CRT.
(2) Description of the Related Art
As prior art published before the present invention, Japanese Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 63-14229, laid open to public on Jan. 21, 1988, is known.
In recent years, the cost of personal computers has decreased and the performance of personal computers has been improved so that operations involving computer graphics and animation have been simplified.
In an image editing apparatus for drawing a picture by a computer, persons or objects are drawn as transparent images, and the images are overlapped to form one picture, taking the transparency of each image into account.
To do this, it is necessary to specify one region on a display screen an a desired region from among a plurality of overlapping regions on the display screen, to edit or correct that desired region, and this operation must be repeated frequently.
Conventionally, to specify one desired region from among a plurality of regions, the other regions must be removed step by step from the display screen by moving the regions. This removing operation is complex.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a desired region specifying system in an image editing apparatus by which a desired region can be easily specified from among a plurality of overlapping regions on a display screen.
To attain the above object, there is provided, according to the present invention, the desired region specifying system in an image editing apparatus comprising a position information generating unit for generating position information on a display; a region selecting information generating unit for generating region selecting information to select desired region from among a plurality of overlapping regions; a region management table for storing positions of the regions to be displayed, the upper and lower relationships among the regions, and displaying methods for displaying the regions; a region selecting unit for selecting, based on the position information generated by the position information generating unit and the region selecting information generated by the region selecting information generating unit, the desired region to be edited from among the plurality of regions; a data storage for storing data to be displayed on a display unit; and a display control unit for reading the data stored in the data storage, and for displaying the data stored in the data storage in accordance with the displaying methods stored in the region managing table. According to the present invention, the region selecting information generating unit includes an analog signal generating unit for generating an analog signal. The analog signal is used to select the regions from overlapping region.
In one aspect of the present invention, the analog signal generating unit comprises a switch, the analog signal being generated during an ON period of the switch, and the analog signal being stopped by turning OFF the switch.
In the above system, the switch is a push button switch having a push button. The push button switch is turned ON by pressing the push button, and is turned OFF by releasing the push button. The overlapping regions are sequentially selected during an ON period of the push button switch. The desired region is specified by turning OFF the push button switch.
In the above system, the position information generating unit comprises the push button switch so as to be able to handle both the push button switch and the position information generating unit in one hand.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the analog signal generating unit comprises a pressure sensors. In this aspect, the analog signal in generated while a pressure greater than a threshold value is applied to the pressure sensor, and the analog signal is stopped by removing the pressure.
In the above system, the overlapping regions are sequentially selected while the pressure is applied to the pressure sensor, and the desired region is specified by removing the pressure from the pressure sensor.
In the above system, the position information generating unit comprises the pressure sensor so as to be able to operate the pressure sensor and the position information generating unit in one hand.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, the analog signal generating unit comprises an amplifier for generating the analog signal, the amplifier comprises a control knob for adjusting the amplitude of the analog signal, and the desired region in specified in response to the amplitude of the analog signal.
In the above system, the desired region is specified by controlling the control knob so that the amplitude of the analog signal is not changed.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, the system further comprises a switch for starting and stopping the operation of the selection of the regions.
In the above system, the desired region is specified by turning OFF the switch.
In the above system, the switch is a pressure sensor provided in the position information generating unit. The switch in turned ON when a pressure applied to the pressure sensor exceeds a predetermined threshold value.
According to still further aspect of the present invention, the analog signal generating unit comprises a pressure sensor for providing the analog signal and a switch, the amplitude the analog signal in changed in response to a pressure applied to the pressure sensor, and the desired region is specified by turning OFF the switch.
In the above system, the switch is a push button switch having a push button, and the position information generating unit comprises the pressure sensor and the push button switch so as to be able to operate the pressure sensor, the push button switch, and the position information generating unit in one hand, the regions are selected in response to a pressure applied to the pressure sensor while the switch is turned ON by holding down the push button, and the desired region is specified by releasing the push button.
According to still further aspect of the present invention, the analog signal generating unit comprises a first switch and a second switch, front regions are sequentially selected during an ON period of the first switch, and the desired region is specified by turning OFF the first switch; and rear regions are sequentially selected during an ON period of the second switch, and the desired region is specified by turning OFF the second switch.
The above system further comprises a discrete operation mode selecting unit for selecting a discrete mode in which the selection of the regions is changed from the currently selected region to one region adjacent to the currently selected region by turning ON the first or the second switch so that the regions are sequentially selected by sequentially turning ON the first switch or the second switch.
According to still further aspect of the present invention, the analog signal generating unit comprises a travel distance outputting unit and a switch, the travel distance outputting unit is provided in the position information generating unit, for outputting a travel distance between positioned designated by the position information generating unit, the regions are directly selected in response to travel distance between the initial position and the final position designated by the position information generating unit during an ON period of the switch.
In the above system, the switch in a pressure sensor provided in the position information generating unit, for generating a signal representing the ON period when a pressure larger than a threshold value in applied to the pressure sensors
In the above system, the desired region is specified by removing the pressure from the pressure sensor.
Instead of the pressure sensor, the switch may be a push button switch having a push button provided in the position information generating unit, for generating a signal representing the ON period when the push button in pressed.
In the above system, the desired region is specified by releasing the push button.
According to still further aspect of the present invention, the position information generating unit comprises the pressure sensor and a switch, the regions are selected in response to the pressure applied to the pressure sensor, and the desired region is specified in response to the operation of the switch.
In the above system, when the output of the pressure sensor is increased to be larger than a first threshold, a front region adjacent to the region currently selected in selected, and when the output of the pressure sensor is decreased to be smaller than a second threshold value, a rear region adjacent to the region currently is selected.
Alternatively, when the output of the pressure sensor in increased to be larger than a first threshold value, a rear region adjacent to the region currently selected may b selected, and when the output of the pressure sensor is decreased to be smaller than a second threshold, a front region adjacent to the region currently selected may be selected.
In operation of the above systems, when a position of a region to be selected is indicated by the position information generating unit, the position information is given to the region selecting unit. The region selecting unit searches the region management table to find all regions existing at the indicated position. The regions found are stored in a table in the order from the lower region to the upper region. The display control unit reads, from the data storage, the image data of the regions designated by the region management table, in accordance with the positions and attribute information of the regions, and displays them on the display unit. In response to the analog signal generated by the analog signal generating unit, the regions are sequentially selected. By changing the attribute information of a region in the region management table, the display of the region is highlighted or the color of the displayed region is reversed to indicate that the region is now selected. If the selected region is a desired region, the selected region is specified as a desired region by changing the state of the analog signal.
Then a user can edit or correct figures in the specified region or to add new figures to the specified region.
When the analog signal generating unit comprises a switch, the regions are sequentially selected region by region, from the front-most region to the rear-most region, during an ON period of the switch, and a desired region can be specified by turning OFF the switch.
When the analog signal generating unit comprises a pressure sensor, the regions are sequentially selected region by region, from the front-most region to the rear-most region, during a pressure is applied to the pressure senor, and a desired region can be specified by removing the pressure from the pressure sensor.
When the analog signal generating unit comprises an amplifier having a control knob for adjusting the amplitude of the analog signal, a desired region can be specified in response to the amplitude of the analog signal.
Instead of using the amplitude of the analog signal for specifying a desired region, a switch way also be used.
When the analog signal generating unit comprises a pressure sensor and a switch, the regions are sequentially selected region by region, from the front-most region to the rear-most region, in response to a pressure applied to the pressure sensor, and a desired region can be specified by turning OFF the switch.
When the region selecting information generating unit is constructed by the first and the second switch, one region above the currently selected region can be selected by pressing the first switch, and one region below the currently selected region can be selected by pressing the second switch. By repeating this operation, a desired region can be specified from among the overlapping regions.
Alternatively, a desired region can be specified by moving the position indicated by the position information generating unit while the switch on the region selecting information generating unit is ON or the output of the pressure sensor is larger than a threshold value.
The regions can also be selected by changing the output of the pressure sensor and the desired region can be specified by turning ON the switch. In this case, it is also possible to select a region one region above the currently selected region by increasing the pressure applied to the pressure sensor to be larger than the first threshold, and to select a region one region below the currently selected region by decreasing the pressure applied to the pressure sensor to be lower than the second threshold.